Tag: Jeff Sandoval

Kicking off Rock Picks of the week are the great American Rockers Buckcherry with their new track 'Gluttony' from their upcoming album 'Confessions,' which is due February 19th from Century Media Records. You say I drink too much, you say I smoke too much, you say I f**k too much, A Glutton Enemy has started! It's another great track from the always underated Buckcherry, who continue with another track sure to please all of us fans, and hopefully bring new fans into the fold. Each and every album from Buckcherry is full of quality hard rock and I'm sure the new album will be no exception.

Buckcherry just wrapped a string of concert dates in the U.K. and will headline North American shows in late December and January before joining Kid Rock on his upcoming 'Rebel Soul' Tour, kicking off February 2nd in Kansas City, MO. In addition, Buckcherry will also be co-headlining with Queensryche, the Fremont Street Experience's Downtown Countdown New Year's Eve 2013 celebration in Las Vegas on December 31st. The band's will be joined by Quiet Riot, Pop Evil and Otherwise in festivities that will last from 6pm to 3am. Here's to a kick ass 2013 for Buckcherry!!!

One of my favorite bands, Rival Sons have released the second single from their 'Head Down' album, which is available now on itunes and will be available in the U.S. on January 22nd. 'Until The Sun Comes', is the track that many figured would be a single from the album on initial listen. The video was directed by Simon Gesrel, protégé of Academy Award-winning director Michel Gondry (White Stripes, Bjork).

'Head Down' on Earache Records--which has gotten fantastic reviews including a four-out-of-five star review from The Guardian/U.K., a “Breakthrough Artist” award at this year’s Classic Rock Awards show in London and the current cover Classic Rock Magazine. Head Down reached #1 on the Rock chart in the U.K. Rival Sons look to 2013 to showcase the record here in the U.S. with North American tour dates.

The video is a freaky desert action clip, with crazy motorcycle sand dune racing, with the hills of the desert as a motif for the double entendres of the woman in the song. Rival Sons frontman Jay Buchanan says, "I really dig this video; it's a completely new direction for us. Filming videos can be very awkward for me, but this time I got to ride a dirt bike out in the desert where I'm most comfortable; it just felt so natural for the song. We're all pretty good on a bike so we just took turns doing tricks and trying to outdo each other. We ended up with some sweet footage. Nice."

Director Simon Gesrel adds, “The video took about six weeks to make: two weeks of prep and four weeks of animation, including three weeks of post-production. This clip has references from Time Rider to apocalyptic science-fiction, i.e. Mad Max, especially Italian B-movies etc. like Nuovi Barbari--sometimes just the posters for these films are great inspiration! Plus more well-known series such as Knight Rider and Street Hawk etc.

"The character and the bike were made from different toys customized and aged (about four inches). The base of the décor is made of polystyrene covered in real sand. The film set resembles a sand dune. We worked with three different sets, so there were effectively three different bikes and the characters. The set with the girl was shot in live action whereas the other scenes were in stop-motion, image by image. We worked with a naked model covered in glycerine, then covered in sand so the sand stuck. It was hard work despite the presence of a naked lady made of sand.

"I like playing with clichés ('I know you've heard it all before...'); it allows us to be direct with formats for a short clip - at the same time I look to remain accessible. The idea is a meeting of inspiration - a spur of the moment thing, that finishes with a sexual rapport, but I wanted it to remain a clip for everyone; people see what their age permits and it remains fun for everyone."

Rival Sons evoke a retro classic rock vibe, and have been compared to Led Zeppelin, even having been praised by Jimmy Page. Formed in 2008, the Long Beach, CA. quartet of Scott Holiday (guitar), Robin Everhart (bass), Mike Miley (drums), and Jay Buchanan (vocals) wrote, recorded, and mixed 'Head Down' in just 20 days, conjuring the same energy that made their last album a fan and critical favorite. Explains Buchanan: “In the code of the Samurai, any decision must be made between 3 and 5 breaths…Writing by that code forces us to act, go with our instincts and really, truly listen to each other. Creatively, you’re bringing your most immediate instincts.”

New Music Express have the exclusive premiere of the video. Watch it here: www.nme.com

The video clip for the Slash track 'Bad Rain' from 'Apocalypse Now' was released awhile ago, and I don't know if it will even be worked at radio, as Slash has mentioned he is already writing for his next album with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. Kennedy won't be able to cut vocals for it however until after completing the next Alter Bridge record and findiong time to fit it into his schedule, but a video with an animated Slash and Kennedy, strippers and a strip club monster takeover with tattoo conversion for a certain patron has to make Rock Picks of the week.

Geoff Tate, the Queensryche frontman with one of the most recognized voices in hard rock and heavy metal has released a lyric video for the song "Dark Money" from his second solo album, 'Kings & Thieves', which was released on November 6th from InsideOut Music.

The song conveys a message of how 'Dark Money' has seemingly infiltrated all aspects of our political system, the destruction it has caused, and how we need to open our eyes to it all.

After the messy split with Queensryche this past June and the legalities surrounding the use of the band name, and the resulting decision that both Tate and his ex-bandmates can use it, Tate is currently rehearsing with his own version of Queensryche with drummer Bobby Blotzer (Ratt), bassist Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Blue Oyster Cult). Also part of the project is returning Queensryche guitarist Kelly Gray, who played with the band from 1998 until 2001 and also produced several of their albums, and keyboardist Randy Gane, who has toured and recorded with Queensryche and Geoff's solo band.

Canadian rockers Danko Jones are up next with their latest track, 'Just A Beautiful Day', which comes from the band's new album, 'Rock And Roll Is Black And Blue.' It's the sixth full-length record from the band, was produced in full by their longtime partner Matt DeMatteo and mixed by Mike Fraser, known for his work with AC/DC, Aerosmith and so many others.

It's the first album recorded with drummer Atom Willard, who is the sixth in Danko Jones' history. Willard was behind the kit for Rocket From The Crypt, he's also played with The Offspring, Social Distortion and Angels & Airwaves. He is the first drummer in the band to stand on equal creative footing with Danko and his longtime bassist John "JC" Calabrese.

It's another great offering from a band that has yet to get the recognition they deserve in the U.S.

Tesla guitarist Frank Hannon has released a new video, for the Six String Soldiers album track, 'Set Me Free', featuring a live performance recorded in Albuquerque, NM on September 22, 2012. Frank Hannon, Mike Araiza and Jeff Sandoval have created what is quickly being regarded as one of the most impressive unabashed tributes to the importance of the guitar in rock n' roll music in generations. Six-String Soldiers is a full-length disc of 12 solidly written songs backed by the musicianship of legendary guitarists Dickey Betts, 3-time Grammy Award winner Rick Derringer, Pat Travers and Y&T founder Dave Meniketti.

It all started in Albuquerque, New Mexico when Frank Hannon judged a “Guitar Contest” put on by 94 ROCK and discovered the talents of guitarist Mike Araiza. The winner’s prize was jamming onstage with Tesla and little did Mike know that 5 years later he would be collaborating on what would become one of musics most guitar-driven albums in a generation. Mike Araiza and vocalist Jeff Sandoval came to Frank Hannon with some small seeds of song ideas to record in his RedHawk Records studio and the three of them teamed up to write 12 songs of great Rock-N-Roll music! They set out to recruit some of histories top legendary guitarists to join them and create the sound of the Six-String Soldiers.

Toronto based rockers Diemonds are up next with their latest 'Get the Fuck Outta Here' from the new album 'The Bad Pack'. Fronted by the beautiful and sexy vocalist Priya Panda, the band combines quality musicianship with a agressive party vibe. Check out their video for the track with one pissed off janitor who escaped an insane asylum after being victim of a prank gone wrong that disfigured him. He vows revenge and gets it, for the most part. It's comedic and shocking, the way Diemonds want it to be!

Diemonds has played shows with the likes of Slash, Steel Panther, L.A. Guns, Sebastian Bach, Megadeth, Faster Pussycat and so many more. They continue to get their brand of rock out to the masses by constant touring and outreach to fans.